Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Recently, I have been observing a new weird behavior in Anna. She will occassionally drop her chin to the right and then roll her eyes up and to the right. It is only for a couple of seconds, and then she is right back to normal.

At first I thought she was just being silly - like maybe she figured out a new trick and wanted to try it over and over again. But, I have noticed her doing it more and more - and to be quite honest, it is a little disturbing when her eyes roll back like they do. I began to get concerned that they may actually be little mini-seizures.

So, I took Anna to the pedi. today. He agreed that this was abnormal behavior and has referred us to a pediatric neurologist and ordered an EEG. The EEG is scheduled for July 6 and the neurologist appointment is July 14.

Here is a little video I took of Anna eating breakfast. She does the eye rolling thing twice in this video -- once right after the second spoonful, and then again at about the 1:11 mark.

This video doesn't really show how freaky or severe the episodes can be. In fact, they don't really look like much at all on the video -- but they happen pretty frequently (at least 7 or 8 times at breakfast this morning), and are an odd behavior. I hope to get more/better video to be able to show the neurologist.

Anyway, I am not sure if Anna having Down syndrome makes her any more suseptible to neurological disorders. I will have to ask the neurologist that question.

Regardless, we are praying that nothing is really 'wrong' with Anna, and that this is just something that she does - for sensory stimulation or for fun. Either way, we pray that we get an accurate diagnosis and appropriate treatment.

2 comments:

I don't know you other than a few friend we have in common read your blog - but Rebecca sent me the link because of our journey through seizures. Feel free to contact me if you wish - but what I see on the video doesn't look like seizures to me but only an EEG can determine if she is having them.

Take a deep breath and then let it out. Remember to breath through this and know that seizures can be scary but with the right help you will navigate it beautifully.

There're these funky things called absence siezures, and those MIGHT be fleeting absence siezures, but they're really quick. Dominic does these space out things we SWEAR are absence siezures, but we weren't able to catch them on an eeg. you might want to ask for a longer than 15min eeg unless these are literally that frequent.

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Anna Banana Pants

Anna Banana Pants is our third child who has a little something extra...an extra 21st chromosome. Having a child with Down syndrome is not the life sentence that many believe it to be. In fact, it is the probably the greatest blessing we have received as a family. This blog is about Anna, and our everyday family life.